Redemption
by Ellanore Rising
Summary: Barafin died a long time ago. But then he gets a visit from everyone's favorite meddler, and gets a second shot at life. He's sent to another time. Another place. Another world. In a galaxy far from his own. There, he's faced with the people who caused his father's shame, and his death. And he also finds her... a human girl... M for language and theme. May be lemons/limes!
1. Chapter 1

It was black. Everything had been black for a while now. I floated in and out of consciousness. The last real memory I had was a flash of light and incredible pain. I heard my mother and father screaming in pain... my sister's anguished howl when she came upon us... And then everything was silent. Oh so terribly silent. I think I would have gone mad had I stayed in that black silence for much longer. I would have gone mad already had I not been able to float into something resembling unconsciousness. I could dream there.

So when I was approached, I was so sure it was another dream. My starving mind coming up with a strange light that spoke to me.

But when... It?... spoke my name, I knew it was no dream. I was no fool. I knew what had happened. I knew I was... dead. And I knew what had killed me. I also knew that it was those damn aliens who were to blame. I knew my sister had just barely escaped with her life.

Have you figured it out yet? Who I am? Do you know what happened?

I am the son, the firstborn, of the most shamed person in my people's history. His name, even before our death, would live on in infamy. I spent so much time trying to protect myself from his stigma, that I even neglected my own sister, who was suffering as much, if not more, than I was.

Yes. I am the son of Prince Seerow. Barafin.

The... entity (I dared not even think of what he was. It was too... Something. I was beyond the childish fantasies that my sister and I had once entertained.) offered me the chance to live again.

Was it even a choice? I accepted. Instantly. Anything to get out of my prison. Anything...

It nodded. The next thing I knew, I was in a forest, similar to the one of the Hork-Bajir home world. But the trees were smaller... Actually similar to our Andalite trees. The grass was green. The sun was yellow and bright. It was peaceful. Until I heard the cry.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" It was high in pitch, and though I was obviously no expert in mouth-sounds, there was no denying that the voice was laced with fear. Judging from the pitch and tone, the voice almost had to belong to some female or another. "GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!"

I didn't think. I took off running towards what I hoped was a female in distress.

**A/N: Yes, I've been dead on FF for a long, long time now... Apologies! This is my first M fiction, and my first fic in a long, long time, so please be gentle! I know this chapter was painfully short... But rest assured! I am working on the next one, and it shall be a lot longer!**


	2. Chapter 2

"GET AWAY FROM ME! GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!"

Those words tore themselves from my lips before I could stop them. I hated how fearful I sounded. I hated how much of a coward I seemed. It was as if I were crying out for help. Like a little brat who runs to her mama because someone is being mean to her on Facebook, and she's too much of a child to handle it herself. But at that moment... surrounded by dozens of Hork-Bajir controllers... Well, it definitely wasn't as minor as someone calling me a whore.

Not that they would be that too far off...

_Focus, Terra! _I cried to myself, giving my cheeks a mental slap. _Focus on the giant bladed aliens surrounding you!_

"Give us the files," came a surprisingly human voice, as he picked his way through the crowd. A familiar voice. I felt the tears threaten my eyes. But no... I would not show that type of weakness. Not to this man... Not to anyone ever again.

But as Kye stepped up, a smirk on his face, I couldn't help but waver a bit. Oh, god... He looked exactly the same. He _sounded_ the same... down to the Aussie accent and voice that made it sound like he was scheming, even when he wasn't.

But it wasn't Kye anymore, I had to remind myself. Kye might be in there, but it wasn't Kye speaking, and it most definitely wasn't Kye pointing a Dracon beam at my chest. But even with that knowledge in my mind, and as much as I tried to deny it, there was the fact that Kye's voice still made my stomach flutter, and my chest tighten. I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry. I remembered... I remembered those long nights we spent in bed, cuddled up under the blankets, safe, warm, dry while the rain made a pitter-patter sound on my window. Those nights where Kye would put on bad music and literally sweep me off my feet to dance with him. Neither of us could do it well, but he still made me dance, and would whisper in my ear we had to practice for the wedding.

Oh, god, how much of that had been a lie? How much of those sweet nothings was the Yeerk in my boyfriend's head, playing the role of a sweet, perfect man? Making me think that it was Kye...

"Give me the files, Terra," he said, the alluring tones puncturing my memories. "Give me the files... and I won't hurt you."

"You're so full of it..." I said, my eyes darting around. "As soon as I hand them over, you're gonna end me. Your _people,_" I spat out the word. "Can't risk someone like me running around. You can't risk me telling people what I know."

Kye laughed a cruel, cold laugh.

"I said I wouldn't _hurt_ you, Terra," he said, snapping his fingers. I cried out as a Hork-Bajir grabbed me from behind and pinned my arms to my sides. His giant hands seemed capable of snapping my arm into a million pieces, and I knew they were. "I'm planning on making you into a controller, my lovely," my ex continued, coming over to cup my face.

My blood ran cold.

"Your technological genius... Oh, yes, Terra, we could use you."

No... No... anything but that. I wouldn't become one of them... I would die before I allowed it.

"What do you say, Terra? No more fighting... No more running... You're on the wrong side, love. We're going to win this war... Come and join us. And you'd have..." he grinned. "You'd have your precious Kye back. What do you say? You'll do it, won't you? Become a willing host?"

"Go fuck yourself!" I spat out, trying fruitlessly to kick him. "I won't ever..."

"Pity," Kye said, his voice going cold. "Bring her down to the pool and infe-AHHHHHH!" Everyone jumped. Kye fell to his knees, grabbing at his head. A Hork-Bajir went over to try to assist him, and I felt the one holding me loosen his grip. I knew what was happening. I had seen it once before. Kye. Some part of him had risen up against the Yeerk in his head, fighting for control for a few precious seconds.

"R-run, Terra!" He cried, his body thrashing about on the ground. "Run!"

I tried to get away. I did. But I knew. It was useless. At five foot five, I weigh one hundred and twenty-five pounds. Maybe five pounds of that was muscle. I'm one of those people who, no matter how hard they try, it's impossible to put on muscle. Countless hours at the gym left me with the knowledge that I'm stuck with stringy arms.

I swallowed, contemplating how I was going to impale myself on a blade, or trick a Hork-Bajir in to killing me. Maybe I'd just start screaming and screaming. Their hearing is good, right? Maybe my high-pitched wailing would drive one insane and he'd slash at my throat...

But then came the cry.

"ANDALITE!"

I saw the flash of blue. Oh, my god, it was an Andalite... A real one, too, not that abomination known as Visser Three! He was magnificint... His blade cut through Hork-Bajir with ease. The Yeerk in Kye had re-gained his composure and was getting up, about to order the Andalite's capture or death, I was certain.

And then I was free. I ignored the fact I was covered in strangely colored blood as I looked at Kye one last time.

"I love you," I whispered, tears stinging my eyes. And then I turned on my heel and ran.

Yeerks. Or, as I fondly refer to them as, Darwin Candidates.

I'm sure anyone reading this is aware by now, but I'll explain anyhow.

We are not alone in the universe. There are dozens, if not hundreds and thousands of other sentient beings out there. One of them are the Yeerks. And what is a Yeerk?

It's a slug, in reality. A slug with a consciousness. Somehow, they were released into the universe. I assume it had something to do with the Andalites. Andalites are like some weird mix of a centaur, scorpion, that little green guy from Monsters Inc. and a can of paint. From what I can tell, they're centaurs with scorpion tails that like to get slishy-slashy, stalk eyes, no mouth, and are blue. They communicate telepathically. They seem to really hate the Yeerks.

The Yeerks are... well, I don't know how to describe them other than they're slugs. They crawl into your ear canal and somehow make it into your brain, where they assume full control. Without a host, they're helpless.

Like I said, Darwin Candidates.

Now they were on Earth, launching some sort of secret invasion.

As I ran through the woods, though at the moment, Yeerks were not the only thing I was afraid of. I was honestly more afraid of snakes than the Yeerks. Funny, how in the middle of a war, you forget about the fears you've held all your life, such as venomous snakes.

I knew I would have to re-locate soon as I ran to my house. I had been lucky so far. I had never gone to public school. My mom had been nuts and worried about some weird government conspiracies to brainwash kids through their schools. So she had kept my very existence a secret. I didn't have a birth certificate. I didn't have a social security number. As soon as she realized she was pregnant, she up and left the suburbs. She left my father, her home, and her job. No notice. One day she was there, and the next, she was gone. She moved to the mountains. She drove her car to Rochester and abandoned it there, then took to the woods. She walked and hitchhiked all the way to the Rocky Mountains, where she eventually gave birth to me.

I'm not sure why our home was never discovered. I do know that my mom worked as some technical person in some big-shot company before she left, and when she did, she totally emptied all the money she had. Which was a lot. She purchased a computer and television. She set them up herself, so there was no chance anybody could track us through those items.

I wasn't allowed out of the mountains until I was sixteen. Mom decided I was old enough to know how to stay a secret. But I couldn't for long.

I met Kye...

I let out a sob as I opened my front door and booted up my computer. Mom was dead. She had died years ago, when I was barely seventeen. I went into town, looking for food... and there was Kye... I loved him. Trusted him. I even moved in with him... Until I learned about him...

But not even Kye had known my secret. Not even he had been privy to the fact I was legally a nobody. Hell, he thought my name was spelled "Teara" and my surname was "Michaels." I didn't have a last name. My name was just Terra.

I sat down at my desk, booting up the file I had just stolen from the Yeerks.

But I was tired. I was so terribly tired. My eyelids drooped. Surely... One nap would be okay...

I felt my head droop to my desk, and my eyes close, as I entered beautiful dream of my mother when I was little... we were picking wild strawberries together. It was beautiful...

I don't know how long I was asleep. But when I woke, I did so screaming. And the hand on my shoulder clamped tighter.


End file.
